AbstractsPhysics

It has been noted that in previous determinations of the velocity of sound in air, direct measurements of the velocity of sharp sound pulses, carried out over long distances, in the open, have yielded consistently lower values than indirect methods employing continuous sound of a definite frequency. The average of direct methods is about 330.8, and the average of indirect methods about 331«5im/s. Direct measurements of the velocity of sound in air have been made in the laboratory over a distance of 50 feet, using a high speed vacuum-tube counter-chronograph, microphones, and a spark discharge as a sound source. Since the measurements were made indoors, uncertainties due to meteorological conditions, which were inherent in previous direct determinations, have been eliminated.[...]